Illustrating Haiku

In this new episode of Carpe Diem, Chèvrefeuille has presented us with a regular prompt, another art tool: paint. He has told us about Buson, whose 300th birthday is this year. Buson was an admirer of Basho’s haiku, travelling along the small road into the deep north to Basho’s Oku no Hosomichi. He enjoyed the journey but, even more than the beauty of Basho’s haiku, he was stunned by the beauty of nature in the deep north, which inspired him to start painting: he became a haiga master and published the first illustrated version of Basho’s Oku no Hosomichi.

Chèvrefeuille’s challenge for today is to create a haiku or tanka in which we use paint or try to paint with words.